From Afar
by Just Another Wise Girl
Summary: Annabeth Chase has a confident attitude, insane guitar playing talent, and purple dip-dyed hair. Percy Jackson may not be a bad boy or a musician, but he is persistent. OR Annabeth only cares about music and Percy is always up for a challenge. AU. *Percabeth*
1. Part I: The Show

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights to Rick.**

**Warning: Foul language used.**

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_If music be the food of love, play on._

_\- William Shakespeare _

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**From Afar**

**Part I: The Show**

He didn't know how he got dragged to this place.

It may have to do with the fact that Rachel dumped him and Thalia had gotten tired of his whiny ass inhabiting her couch for the past two and a half weeks. Another contributing factor may be that Thalia threatened to shave off his hair and permanently mark his bald head with some incredibly unflattering pictures if he didn't get out of the apartment. Did he mention that all of this would have been done in his sleep?

Sensitivity was not a characteristic his cousin obtained.

So there he was. Sitting on a squeaky barstool, sipping his third beer of the night, alone. Just him and the memories of Rachel and their four year relationship. Well, and Thalia, but he was still pissed at her and didn't want her company at the moment.

"Percy," she sighed, "I didn't bring you out tonight so that you could drink your troubles away."

"You didn't bring me, Thalia. You threatened," he reminded her.

"Well I had to do something! You were driving me insane! All of that wallowing you've been doing these past few weeks is not going to help you, Perce."

"The wound is still fresh, Thals," he argued frustratedly. "No matter what she chose I'm still in love with Rachel and that's not going to end any time soon. You have no idea what I'm going through right now."

He cursed when Thalia directed her harshest glare at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to backtrack his words. "I shouldn't have said that. I forgot about-"

"Don't say his name. Or else I'll beat your drunk ass into next Tuesday."

He sighed. "I really am sorry, Thalia. I wasn't thinking. I was just angry."

"Yeah, I know. Which is why I'll forgive you for nearly mentioning He Who Must Not Be Named. You're lucky I'm feeling compassionate tonight."

The guy who Thalia dubbed to be in the same level of evil as Voldermort himself was Luke Castellan. They had been dating for three years and living together for two when she discovered that not only was he a cheating bastard, but a robbing scum as well. Let's just say that Luke had a very difficult walk to prison after Thalia was through with him.

"Look, I know what you're going through, Percy. It may not be the same circumstances, but I know how it feels like to be betrayed by the person you love. It's fucking shitty as hell since they're moving on in their lives while you're stuck in what feels like an everlasting cycle of bitterness and agony."

She looked him in the eye, her electric blue ones filled with determination. "So do you know what you have to do? You have to get up off your sorry ass and show them that you're much better without them and that it's their loss for messing up. And in order to do that, you need to get out of your bubble of sadness and live."

It was moments like those where he was glad that Thalia was around. He deserved a good kick in the ass every now and then. If anyone could knock some sense into his thick skull, it was her.

"You're right, Thalia. And thanks, I needed that."

"Always glad to be of assistance," she grinned. "Now, let's get closer to the stage, Jason's about to come on soon."

Jason Grace, his other cousin and Thalia's brother, was in a band with four other people. They played in this club owned by a man who went by Dionysus every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

The band knew how to play nearly every song known to mankind. So, Dionysus thought it would be better to make the band play requested songs from the crowd rather than their own. The only way he'd let them play an original would be if there were no requests in the 'Song Box', but the band was rarely that lucky. The club was filled nearly every night, no matter the time.

Percy's never seen Jason's band play live. But Thalia has repeatedly assured him that they were very good. Amazing, even.

As soon as the both of them were close enough, Thalia began to tell him the name of each member of the band.

Nico di Angelo was the drummer, and also his cousin. Percy knew how talented he was already from his university days when they were roommates.

Piper McLean was the keyboard player as well as a guitarist and singer, depending on the song. She was pretty and Thalia not so subtly hinted about Jason's massive crush on her. He didn't need her to say anything though. He could already tell from the lingering looks Jason would send her way.

He'd so make fun of him for that later.

The lead singer was named Anthony Lyre, also known as Apollo (weird name, but Percy couldn't really judge). He apparently received the nickname from his god-worthy voice and face. He also played guitar, but according to Thalia he would mostly sing. Percy couldn't help but notice the way Thalia would look at this guy. He seemed like a pretty boy with his perfectly swept blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Not really Thalia's type, but he figured that anyone was better than Luke.

And finally there was Jason who played bass. He was talking animatedly to his band mates while getting his bass in tune. Percy's never seen him so excited for anything in his life.

"Hey, Thalia? I thought you said that there were five band members."

"There are," she assured. "Annabeth's running a little late."

"What does she play?"

"She's the lead guitarist. Honestly Perce, I've never seen anyone play as good as her. I'm surprised she doesn't have a recording contract, or a record deal, or _something_ already from how amazing she shreds the guitar."

Not even a second before Thalia finished her sentence, a girl rushed on stage, looking completely stressed and flustered.

Jason didn't even look up from his tuning. "You're late, Annabeth."

The blonde girl grinned. "No I'm not. There's still five minutes till showtime."

Jason rolled his eyes, not even bothering to start an argument with her. "Whatever. Just hurry up."

Percy's eyes nearly jumped out of his head. "_That's_ Annabeth?"

Thalia gave him a strange look. "Yeah, why?"

"Uh, n-nothing," he stammered. "It's nothing."

It was most certainly not nothing.

The girl was beyond gorgeous. Her long blonde curls were pulled back into a high ponytail. The tips of them were dyed a deep purple that went perfect with her black leather jacket, combat boots, and purple shirt. Not to mention her bright grey eyes shined in the glare of the stage lights.

But her lips... _Jesus Christ_, she had dark red lipstick covering her perfect mouth.

Percy almost dropped dead on the spot.

"You okay over there?" Thalia asked.

He couldn't even respond. His throat was so dry he was sure that not even drinking the entire Nile would be able to fix it.

Thalia smirked. "So, I guess this means you're over Rachel."

"Who's Rachel?" Percy responded back in a daze.

Thalia laughed.

He was barely paying attention to his cousin. There was a goddess in front of him, and there was no way on earth he was going to miss the show.

"Hello New York!" Apollo greeted enthusiastically.

The crowd cheered and quite a few of the female spectators shrieked loudly, "I LOVE YOU APOLLO!"

"I love you too girls I don't know," Apollo grinned. His smile was blinding. Then he winked towards a girl in the front row who fainted to the floor.

Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, he must be really popular."

Thalia rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Idiot fangirls."

"Are you guys ready to rock?!" Apollo asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

The crowd roared once more as Nico hit his drumsticks together and they began the first song.

Percy couldn't keep his eyes off of Annabeth. Thalia was right when she said that Annabeth should be playing professionally. Her fingers would fly over the neck of the guitar, playing each note perfectly and without missing a single beat. Not only that, but she would also move to the music as if she were one with it. Her ponytail swayed back and forth and her smile would never waver. She looked like she was having the time of her life.

God, what he would give to have that smile pointed at him.

It was as if the big guy himself had heard his prayer, because not even a second after, Annabeth's eyes caught his.

Percy choked on his saliva as she moved closer to his side of the audience, never breaking eye contact with him. Her wide grin turned into a mischievous smirk as she stared him down. He could feel his heart wanting to come out of his chest as his body rose in temperature. The room suddenly felt like one thousand degrees.

Then the entire world ended.

She winked at him and Percy nearly fainted like a fanboy.

She must have liked his reaction because she laughed as she walked away from his section, finishing the song with a bang.

Sweet baby Jesus, she was perfection. He didn't care what it took, he would meet this girl, date her, marry her, and have a bunch of little musically talented kids with her.

Was he being too optimistic? Screw it. Life's too short to not think about things like that.

"Don't even think about it."

Percy turned to Thalia who had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about?"

"Percy," she deadpanned, "I know that look. And I'm warning you now, don't go after Annabeth."

"Who said I had a thing for Annabeth?" he replied defensively. "I haven't even met her yet."

"Maybe it was the way you were practically drooling on the floor when she looked at you that gave you away."

He blushed. "Okay, maybe I do. What's so bad about that? I thought you'd be happy that I'm finally getting over Rachel."

"I am, Perce. Really. It's just that Annabeth doesn't do relationships, while you're more of the get married and have a white picket fence with five children kind of guy."

His heart plummeted. "So she's never been in a relationship before?"

"Oh, she has. But not for a very long time. She would get bored quickly and leave the guy. So that's why she's decided on only doing casual from now on."

"I can do casual."

Thalia gave him a sympathetic look, putting her hand on his shoulder. "No, Perce. You can't. And that's okay, because honestly you're not really her type."

"Why am I not her type? What does she like?"

Thalia sighed. "She tends to lean more towards the bad boy or musician type. Preferably both."

"I can be that."

"Percy, you don't even play an instrument," she said frustratedly, clearly getting annoyed by his stubbornness. "And the worst thing you've ever done was eat some of the candy at Bulk Barn without paying... But then you went back and payed anyways since you felt bad, so I don't think that really counts."

He ignored her statement. "Just introduce me to her, Thalia. I promise I won't let what happened with Rachel happen to me again."

Thalia threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine! I'll introduce you, but you should know one last thing before I do."

"What's that?"

She looked at him dead in the eye. "When it comes to Annabeth, music always comes first before everything. _Always_."

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**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys, so I started this a while back and I decided that instead of making it a oneshot, I'm just going to post small parts to the story every now and then. **

**Part II will be out once I get back home from taking my test. Which I should be studying for right now... **

**Well, I hope you liked Part I! Please review! **


	2. Part II: The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights to Rick.**

**Warning: Foul language used.**

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_"May I see you again?" he asked. There was an endearing nervousness in his voice._

_I smiled. "Sure."_

_"Tomorrow?" he asked._

_"Patience, grasshopper," I counseled. "You don't want to seem overeager."_

_"Right, that's why I said tomorrow," he said. "I want to see you again tonight. But I'm willing to wait all night and much of tomorrow."_

_\- _John Green_, The Fault in Our Stars_

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**From Afar**

**Part II: The Meeting**

Thalia led Percy backstage nearly an hour after the band was done with their set.

He was beyond nervous. His palms were sweating, his stomach felt like it had a full blown circus inside of it, and he was pretty sure his heart was attempting to climb up his throat.

He hasn't felt like this since high school.

_You're a twenty-two year old man, _his subconscious scolded._ Act like one!_

But as soon as he saw her, sitting on a lounge chair strumming her guitar, he couldn't move. Seriously. His feet stayed planted on the floor.

Thalia gave him an exasperated look. "Are you coming or not?"

He shook his head rapidly. "I don't think I can do this."

"Oh for Christ's sake, she's a _girl_ not a lion. She may be a little intimidating, but she doesn't bite."

"Well I wouldn't be so sure about that."

The voice was new and Percy nearly jumped out of his skin from the close proximity of it. But lo and behold, there was Annabeth. Standing next to him with her guitar in hand, looking so beautiful his chest constricted. How the hell did she move so quietly? He hadn't even heard her footsteps.

"_Jesus_, Annabeth!" Thalia exclaimed. "Give me a warning next time. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." She didn't look that apologetic. "I'll wear a bell from now on so I won't scare you to death."

"How about you just walk like a normal person instead of like a fucking cat? God, Annie I don't know how you do that."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't call me Annie."

"Make some noise when you walk and maybe I'll stop," Thalia retorted.

Annabeth rolled her eyes that then landed on Percy. He stiffened. "Who's this?"

He meant to introduce himself. He really did. But his voice was so dry he could barely make a sound. It became even worse when Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him in question.

_So much for acting like a man._

Thalia, sensing her cousins obvious distress, quickly said, "Annabeth, this is Percy Jackson, my cousin. Percy, this is Annabeth Chase."

Annabeth feigned a hurt expression. "What, no other introduction? Just, _Annabeth Chase_? Don't I mean _anything_ to you, Thals? What happened to bestest-friend-in-the-whole-world? Or the greatest-guitar-player-who-ever-lived?"

"That ship sailed when you nearly killed me five minutes ago," Thalia grumbled.

Annabeth laughed and God, was it a glorious sound. She turned her attention back to Percy. "Did you like the show?"

He nodded vigorously. "It was awesome," he croaked. Damn it. He really needed some water.

Annabeth beamed and his heart swelled. "Thanks! It's too bad we couldn't perform some of our originals though. We've been practicing them a lot."

"Annabeth writes all of the band's songs," Thalia added.

Annabeth blushed. Actually _blushed_. Percy was frightened from how much he liked this girl already.

"Yeah, well, they're not _that_ great."

"I bet they're amazing."

Annabeth looked at him then, _really_ looked at him. Her smile was soft and his knees almost gave out. "Thanks, Percy."

He gave a nervous laugh as he felt his skin burn.

Her soft smile then turned wicked and Percy just knew she could see right through him. God, this is their first meeting and his crush on her is so obvious she can already tell.

"Are you guys coming for the next show?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia responded with, "I can't make it," at the same time Percy said, "Absolutely."

Thalia shot him a venomous look as Annabeth just laughed.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you in a few days, Percy." She then put her hand on his forearm and leaned in closer.

His eyes nearly rolled back from how good she smelled. Who knew lemons could smell so intoxicatingly perfect?

"And don't be afraid to come backstage after the show. We can talk for a while." She gave him a coy look as her fingers trailed down his arm.

She walked away not a second after. Her blonde and purple ponytail swaying as she moved.

"Be careful, Percy."

He was shaken out of his daze by his cousin's voice.

Thalia's electric blue eyes were filled with warning. "I don't want to see you get hurt, Perce. I've seen what she's done to guys before and it wasn't pretty."

"Don't worry, Thalia. I can take care of myself."

She gave him a look that clearly said she didn't believe him.

And if he was being honest with himself, he didn't either. But as he watched the blonde beauty leave the room, he didn't really care.

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**Author's Note:**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed their first meeting. Part III will be up when I have the chance to write it. It will be called _The Lies. _**

**Just a heads up, I think the chapters will be on the shorter side since this was originally only supposed to be a oneshot. So, we'll see how it goes. **

**Until next time and please review! **

**P.S. I'm getting my _Blood of Olympus_ copy tomorrow! Super excited! **


	3. Part III: The Lies

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson... It's a sad reality, but true. **

**Warning: Use of foul language.**

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_"You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, _

_but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."_

_\- Abraham Lincoln _

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**From Afar**

**Part III: The Lies**

Jason was surprised to see Percy the next week.

After the band had finished their set, Percy immediately bolted from the crowded audience to the backstage doors. Then he stopped himself and waited ten minutes before barging in. He didn't want to seem overeager.

Jason was the first to greet him, and although he seemed perplexed as to why Percy was there, he happily introduced his cousin to the other band members.

Piper McLean was first on the list. She shook hands with Percy politely and her smile made her look like she should be on a runway. She was friendly and sweet, but the mischievous glint in her eyes said she had a little bit of a troublemaker attitude inside. Not to mention she loved to tease Jason every chance she got, which Percy didn't mind at all. He reveled in it really.

"We should meet up sometime and exchange embarrassing Jason stories," he suggested.

Her entire face lit up, her kaleidoscope eyes taking on a bluish hue. "I'd love that! That way I'll have enough blackmail material to last me a lifetime."

Jason's tan skin started to look a little green.

Percy grinned evilly at his cousin who seemed ready to either throw up or punch him in the face. Maybe both.

Percy's smile never wavered as he said, "Then you'll love the story about how Jason got his scar."

Piper looked intrigued while Jason's eyes pleaded for mercy.

"He actually had this incident with a stapler-"

"Okay!" Jason hand quickly covered Percy's mouth. "That's enough! Story time's over."

Piper laughed as Jason's whole face turned a bright red. He shot Percy a murderous look, one that made him look exactly like his sister. There was no doubt in his mind that Jason was going to get revenge on him. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad.

As Piper said goodbye, she hugged them both. Percy couldn't help but notice that she clung onto Jason a little longer than necessary.

Once she was gone, Percy elbowed Jason teasingly. "Congrats, man. She's totally into you."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, Perce. She just likes me as a friend, nothing more."

"Uhuh. That hug didn't seem all that friendly to me."

Jason's cheeks were bright pink as he grumbled, "It was just a hug."

"Yeah, and I'm _just_ the hottest guy in this room." Percy turned to find Apollo sending a mega-watt grin their way. He put an arm around Jason's shoulder and began gesturing dramatically. "You see my young protégée-"

"You're only a month older than me!" Jason protested.

"-women are like fish," he continued, completely ignoring Jason's scowl and Percy's confused look. "You've gotta put something on the line that will catch their attention and once they take a bite then- BAM!" He clasped his hands together so suddenly both Jason and Percy jumped in surprise. "You've caught yourself a woman."

Jason scoffed. "That's probably the worst analogy I've ever heard."

Apollo's eyes sparkled- honest to God, _sparkled_\- as he grinned wolfishly. "Maybe so, but I'm telling you my theory works. You can trust me on that." He then stuck out his hand to Percy and said, "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Anthony Lyre, but I prefer to go by my stage name, Apollo. It makes me unique. You're Jason's cousin, right?"

Percy shook his hand. "Yeah, Percy Jackson. You guys played great tonight, by the way."

Apollo beamed. "Thanks. It always feels good to get compliments from our fans. Speaking of fans, wasn't there a girl with you the last time you came?"

"Oh yeah, Thalia. She couldn't make it today, but she promised to come for the next show."

"I sure hope so. That girl is _so_-"

"Off limits," Jason growled. "She's my sister."

Apollo's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "_Sister_?! Sorry Jace, I didn't know. You two look nothing alike. I mean, she's hot and then you're just..."

Jason smacked him upside the head.

Apollo retaliated by grabbing Jason in a choke hold and giving him a noogie.

"Get off me you lunatic!" Jason yelled. "Percy, don't just stand there! Help me!"

Percy laughed. "Nawh, I think I'm good right here."

"Alright you two, break it up!" A scrawny Latin guy with messy brown hair and elfish looking ears suddenly came out of nowhere and pushed the two band mates apart. "As much as I like seeing you two have your daily macho man fight, I'd rather not have a repeat of what happened last month."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you, Leo? How was I supposed to know the bottle cap wasn't screwed on right? Honestly you should blame Jason for dodging it in the first place."

Jason gave him an incredulous look.

"That may be, but you weren't the one who had to spend hours fixing the soundboard," Leo argued. He then turned to Percy and said, "Hey, man. I'm Leo Valdez, band manager and part-time babysitter for these idiots." He pointed to Apollo and Jason who were glaring holes into each other's heads. "You're Percy, right? Jason and Nico's cousin?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

"You too. Hey, would you guys mind doing me a favor? Could you go tell Annabeth about the practice schedule change? I've gotta go help Nico put away his drum set."

"Sure, no problem," Jason replied, while Percy's stomach began doing an extremely intense acrobatics routine just from the sound of her name.

Once she was in sight, Percy wasn't sure whether he should bolt and book the next plane to Madagascar or just drop dead on the spot and end his misery. He was so nervous he felt like his entire being was about to combust.

_Calm down, she asked you to talk to her after the show, remember? She _wants_ to see you._

With that thought in mind, he squared his shoulders and tried to show as much fake confidence as he could muster, while keeping up with Jason and Apollo's long strides.

As per usual, Annabeth was strumming away at her guitar, her eyebrows knitt in concentration. She played a melody that was so sad it made Percy's heart ache. Not to mention it gave him this sudden urge to just go up and comfort her. But as soon as she saw them, she immediately stopped playing, her cheeks hinting at a blush.

Once her eyes landed on Percy her face brightened. "Percy! It's nice to see you again." He was pleasantly surprised when she spread out her arms and hugged him.

Forget butterflies! His stomach had freaking pterodactyls flying inside.

"What about me?" Apollo complained. "Isn't it nice to see me again? I want an Annie hug too! Those are the best!"

Annabeth laughed. "I saw you five minutes ago, Tony. Not enough time has passed for me to miss you."

He scowled. "Don't call me Tony. You know I hate that nickname."

"Well, don't call me Annie and you have a deal," she countered.

"Aw, but it fits you so well-"

"Anyways," Jason interrupted, ignoring Apollo's glare, "we came to tell you about the practice change. It starts at eight now."

"Ugh," Annabeth groaned. "I'm gonna kill Leo one day. He knows I hate morning practices."

"Trust me, _everyone_ knows you hate morning practices. You're like a zombie whenever you have to do anything before noon."

Annabeth glowered at Jason as Apollo snickered. Percy tried his best to hide his smile, but failed miserably.

"Why can't you practice in the afternoon?" Percy asked.

"Because the band that plays after us booked that slot for tomorrow, so we got stuck with the early bird time," Jason explained.

"Speak of the devils," Apollo growled, "there they are now."

Percy turned to find four, admittedly, good-looking guys entering the backstage doors. They all had that rocker look to them, but one stood out above the rest. He had medium length brown hair that was slightly longer in the center of his head, like he was trying to grow a mohawk, but eventually gave up with the idea. Percy grudgingly noticed that the guy was taller than him and had way more muscle than he did. Plus, he had a few tattoos circling his right arm and his eyebrow had a silver stud pierced in it.

As soon as the guy noticed the four of them, he sauntered over like he owned the place, making Percy frown in discontent.

"Oh fucking hell, not Mason," Apollo whined.

"God, I hate that guy," Jason grumbled.

"That makes two of us."

Percy thinks that's the first time he's ever heard them agree on anything.

"Hey, Chase," Mason greeted, clearly only acknowledging Annabeth and ignoring everyone else. Percy already disliked him. "We still on for Thursday?"

"You bet," Annabeth replied, putting her hand on his arm and fluttering her eyelashes and- _God_, just basically doing everything Percy wishes she would do with him.

What does she see in him anyways? Just then he remembered Thalia's words.

_"She tends to lead more towards the bad boy or musician type. Preferably both."_

Percy frowned.

Apollo holds up his hands in a universal _hold-the-fuck-up _motion. "Wait, wait, wait. Where the hell are you going Thursday? And with _him_ of all people?"

"Yeah," Jason agreed, crossing his arms over his chest, "we never approved of this."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "First of all, you guys are not my Dad. Therefore, I can do whatever the hell I want. I don't need your permission. Second, not that it's any of your business, but Mason invited me to a small concert that's happening downtown."

Percy's ears perked up, despite the fact that Annabeth was going on an outing (he refused to call it a date) with what's-his-name. "Oh, are you going to watch The Romans?"

Both Annabeth and Marian gave him a surprised look.

"_You_ know The Romans?" Marco asked, his voice laced with doubt.

Percy took his tone as an insult. His jaw ticked. "Yeah, I do. They're an awesome band."

Marlin gave him an appreciative nod. "Hmm, that's cool man. I didn't think a person like you would listen to them."

Percy clenched his teeth. "What do you mean a 'person like me'?"

"Oh, you know..."

His eyes narrowed. "No, I don't, actually."

"Well, you just don't seem like the type of person to be into their music." Mario eyed him up and down. "Or any _good_ music for that matter. I doubt you even play any instruments."

Who the hell does this guy think he is?! Percy was so ready to tear him a new one... Except for the fact that his arm muscles were the size of Percy's head. And he'd rather not embarrass himself in front of Annabeth by getting his ass kicked.

"I'll have you know that I do play an instrument," he argued.

Jason sent him a WTF look.

Marcus scoffed. "Oh really? And what might that be?"

Percy really needed to start thinking ahead before he said stupid things... Like knowing how to play an instrument when he is without a doubt musically challenged. But he already dug himself into this hole, he couldn't back out now. Not when Annabeth was staring at him with newfound interest.

Percy's eyes quickly flittered around the room in search for something to complete his lie. Unfornately the first thing he saw was Annabeth's guitar.

"The guitar," he confirmed, though it sounded more like a question.

"Really?" Annabeth asked, stepping closer to him, her eyes shining. "You play? For how long?"

"Uh, two years."

Annabeth grinned widely. "Awesome. Maybe we can jam together sometime?"

Percy's mind immediately went into a dream-like state where all he could see was him and Annabeth back at his apartment just playing guitar together... And kissing. Okay, a lot of kissing.

"Yeah, sure. I'd love that." At that point, he would have agreed to skydiving naked if she had asked.

Merlin scowled at them. "Prove it."

Percy was slapped out of his daydream. "What?"

"Prove you can play. Here, use Annabeth's guitar."

Percy's body went into panic mode as he gingerly took the musical instrument with shaking hands. He had no idea how to even properly _hold_ a guitar, let alone _play_ one. He shot Jason a desperate look.

Luckily for him, his cousin was one step ahead of him.

Not a second later, his cell phone rang with Piper's phone number flashing on the screen.

Percy gave Jason a thankful stare as he said, "Sorry I gotta take this," and handed back the guitar to Annabeth.

"Hey," Piper greeted, "Jason texted me to call you. He told me it was an emergency."

"Hi, Mom," Percy replied. "I'm fine, how are you?"

Piper laughed. "Really, Percy? Oh God, I can't wait to hear the whole story from Jason tomorrow."

"No Mom, I don't think that's a good idea." He gave the group a shrug that said _Mothers, what can you do?_

"I know you've only known me for the literal amount of like an hour, Percy, but you should know that I _live_ for blackmail. And this little phone call just screams blackmail."

"You shouldn't dig so deep into this, Mom."

"It's cute that you think I won't," Piper replied, her tone sickly sweet. "I'll talk to you later... _Honey_."

She laughed, which only made Percy wish even more that Jason had texted _anybody_ else but Piper to call him.

"I love you too, Mom. I'll see you soon."

Annabeth put her hand on his arm as he put away his phone. "Everything okay?"

His skin burned from her touch. "Yeah, she just wants me to help her with something at her apartment. I've gotta go."

"Oh, that's too bad. I really wanted to hear you play."

"There's always next time," Apollo suggested.

Jason elbowed him in the gut.

"Ow! What the hell man?" he hissed.

"Before you go Percy," Annabeth said, "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join Mason and I to The Romans concert on Thursday."

"_What_?!" Both boys exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah, I figured since you're a fan you'll enjoy it. Come with us." Her eyes looked into his pleadingly.

How in the world was he supposed to resist those grey orbs? Plus, if he goes, not only does he get to spend more time with Annabeth, but keeping her away from Marius is an added bonus.

"Okay, I'll go."

"Great! Here's my number so I can tell you all the details. I'll see you then."

Percy quickly said his goodbyes and was about to leave, but not before Jason pulled him aside and whispered, "You owe me one."

Boy, did he ever.

Especially if he was going to ask Jason to teach him how to play guitar.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**I hope you like Part III! Part IV will be out as soon as I can write it. Please review! **

**Until next time!**


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